WhatTheyThink's Cary Sherburne Among Women Of Distinction Honorees

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Press release from the issuing company

HOUSTON, Texas, U.S.A. -- OutputLinks, the information and research resource of the high volume transaction output (HVTO) industry, announces the newest members of the Women of Distinction Awards program. The program celebrates the numerous achievements of exceptional women in the HVTO industry. The six latest honorees---well-known achievers of the HVTO community---were selected for their experience, leadership and contributions to the output industry.

The new honorees---representing Singapore, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States---exemplify a wide range of professional, technical, entrepreneurial, management and marketing skills.

The Women of Distinction are commemorated annually with a $5,000 university scholarship, funded by OutputLinks and administered by The Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF).

Fifty-six professionals have been honored with the Women of Distinction designation over the past seven years. They represent president and CEOs, senior management, educators, technical consultants, document managers and other illustrious women who make an impact in the high volume transaction output industry.

The new OutputLinks Women of Distinction honorees include:

Mary Ann Bennett – United States
President and CEO
The Bennett Group, Inc
Mary Ann Bennett is the president and CEO of The Bennett Group, Inc., the nation’s only privately-held mailing training and consulting firm that specializes in the development and delivery of educational products and services for the mailing and printing industries. As an industry leader, Bennett celebrates over 30 years of experience and education that has centered on production and marketing of the mailing industry, including owning and operating a lettershop for six years. She is nationally recognized as an expert on U.S. postal automation, and she is a frequent educational speaker at national and regional direct marketing conventions and communication forums, including the National Postal Forum, ON DEMAND and Graph Expo. Additionally, she is a frequent contributor to many of the national publications, whose reader base is the mailing and print industries, including Printing Impressions, American Printer, In-Plant Graphics, NAPL Business Review, OutputLinks and Mailing Systems Technologies.

Hélène Blanchette – Singapore
Go-to-Market Strategic Manager/Direct Marketing and TransPromo
Fuji Xerox
Hélène Blanchette has been active in the graphic communication and the marketing industries for nearly 20 years. She is currently the go-to-market strategic manager/direct marketing and transpromo for the international division of Fuji Xerox in Singapore (covering 12 countries). She arrived in Singapore in 2007 with a baggage of experience as national industry and marketing manager in Canada, for the Graphic Communication Division of Xerox Canada. At Fuji Xerox, Blanchette’s responsibilities range from marketing development strategies to international program management. In 2005, she was identified by Print Action Magazine as one of the top 50 most influential people in Canada in the graphic communications world. She is the founder of the Xerox 1:1 Lab that has gained worldwide recognition and won numerous marketing innovation awards. She received the Xerox President Leadership Award for building strategic alliances and implementing the 1:1 Lab, and the 2006 Speaker of the Year award from Xplor Canada.

Suzanne Oles – United States
Director, Color Solutions Sales
InfoPrint Solutions
With 30 years experience, Suzanne Oles is director, color solutions sales, InfoPrint Solutions – a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh. She started her career in ink, selling typewriters in Illinois. She was quickly recognized as Rookie of the Year, followed by a move to selling IT solutions to enterprises. She later held management positions, responsible for the IBM product line. She left IBM in the early 1990s to join a consultancy. Re-joining IBM as a part of Pennant Systems, in 1994, she lead its entry into the production color and print-on-demand markets, selling and implementing its first customer production color installations. Oles became the America’s sales executive, color solutions, in 1998 and, in 2000, the worldwide sales executive. She was then named sales executive for the western region, in the IBM Printing Systems Division. In 2004, she was the No. 1 sales executive in the Americas. Today, she develops strategies for InfoPrint and its customers.

Cary Sherburne – United States
Author, Journalist and Marketing Consultant
Sherburne & Associates
As a well-known author, journalist and marketing consultant, Cary Sherburne is focused on marketing communications strategies for the printing and publishing industries. Prior to launching her consulting practice in 2002, Sherburne was the vice president of marketing communications and outsourcing solutions at IKON Office Solutions. In that capacity, she developed and implemented a branding campaign to build brand awareness for IKON in the marketplace, as well as enhance employee pride in the organization. Prior to joining IKON, Sherburne was a director at CAP Ventures (now InfoTrends), where she launched and managed the company’s Document Outsourcing Consulting Service. Sherburne has written six influential books, including Digital Paths to Profit and most recently, No-Nonsense Innovation: Practical Strategies for Success, written with Bill Lowe, the Father of the IBM PC. In addition to her role as senior editor at WhatTheyThink.com, she writes regularly on industry topics for Printing Impressions and Printing News magazines.

Kim Snell – Canada
Senior Business Systems Analyst
TELUS Communications
From owner/operator of a commercial salmon fishing vessel in British Colombia to owner/operator of a commercial bakery in Alberta, Kim Snell went on to discover a fascination with organizing data and improving processes that has resulted in a more than 20-year career in information technology. Starting with TELUS, when it was still CLEARNET in 1997, working with transactional documents, variable messaging, document archive, address accuracy and print stream reconciliation for the past 10 years, Snell has been responsible for shaping the current and future strategic direction of her organization as it relates to customer communications initiatives. She has been instrumental in various roles as developer, senior business systems analyst and project manager on over seven bill redesigns or billing conversions. She is currently redesigning the TELUS wire line bill. In addition to training and proficiency in many software applications, Snell has a certificate of business analysis from McMaster University.

Allen Thrasher – United Kingdom
Direct Marketing Principal EMEA
InfoPrint Solutions
Allen Thrasher is the direct marketing principal for EMEA at InfoPrint Solutions - a joint venture between IBM and Ricoh. In her role, Thrasher works with customers to provide expert advice and guidance on transpromo and how to integrate it with marketing programmers. She brings more than 20 years marketing experience, largely in IT/telecoms, retail, financial services and the Internet. Her particular knowledge across the breadth of integrated marketing, including over 13 years of direct marketing and 10 years in digital marketing, allows her to provide a broader perspective to InfoPrint's customers. Prior to joining InfoPrint, Thrasher worked as a marketing consultant with the DM Consultancy. She consulted across the IT/telecoms and retail sectors, launching BT Mobile and multiple products for Thomas Sanderson in the United Kingdom. Her global experience includes launching Concert Communications IP Portfolio and Marriott Rewards Internationally. She also worked with Intuit to launch its Quickeninsurance.com.

About OutputLinks Awards & Recognitions Programs
OutputLinks Awards & Recognitions are part of a growing number of industry programs sponsored by OutputLinks to recognize the many contributions, achievements and successes of outstanding professionals and companies in the high volume transaction output industry. OutputLinks Awards & Recognitions include:
• Women of Distinction
• Sustainability/Stewardship Award
• EDP Award of Merit
• Vendor of Value
• And Scholarships managed by the Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF).